Hotel tax hike to go on Santee ballot

SANTEE  With just three hotels in the city plus Padre Dam’s 10 cabins at the Santee Lakes, the city hasn’t been collecting a whole lot of money from its 6 percent transient occupancy tax — the lowest such tax in San Diego County.

To bring what City Manager Keith Till estimates would be an additional $264,000 to Santee, the City Council recently voted unanimously to let the voters decide in November if the hotel tax should be increased to 10 percent.

The city also is revising the definition of “hotel” to include campsites.

“The main reason is that you have visitors coming to town and utilizing city services and our infrastructure, streets and sidewalks,” Till said. “We get calls for service from fire, paramedics, police and we respond the same as we do for residents. But the difference is residents pay property tax... these visitors don’t. And with the financial pressures Santee, and all cities, face, the majority can no longer afford to subsidize to the extent that we have.”

Santee is close to bringing in another hotel to join Best Western Santee Lodge, Rodeway Inn Santee and Carlton Oaks Country Club. It is expected to be located where San Diego Christian College had planned to move, near the Trolley Square Town Center.

Nearly $3.4 million has been taken from city reserve funds over the last four years.

“With the actions taken recently with our new cost recovery fee schedule (expected to generate $472,000 annually) and an increase in the hotel tax, we project being in balance over the next five-year period,” Till said of the city’s budget. “If we don’t, we anticipate being out of balance and drawing down close to $2 million.”

The Registrar of Voters estimated it will cost between $26,000 and $32,000 to put this on the November ballot.